I’m considering getting a DT 125 to have a go at some repairs/ maintenance and to have as a more economical alternative to my Hornet (which isn’t to bad, I’ll admit).
The seller sent me this replay to my enquiry about the condition of the bike (DT 125)-
“hi there. basicly the bike is siezed and need the piston taking out and rubbed dwn with wet and dry paper an also in side the piston lining an also needs a new cdi i have been told these are cheap on ebay and at bike breakers. thanks.”
What do you think about the work described? I’m not worried about it taking a while to do it, but will it cost much?
Cheers,
G
Hi, In my opinion, I would say that if that is ‘all’ the bike needs then why is the current owner not doing the work himself. Not knowing much about the bike but going on the info that it has seized for some reason i would assume that a rebore would also be needed. Without knowing more details i’m not sure if the DT barrel can be rebored or is coated. Not sure if ‘wet n dry’ would repair the damage done by a seizure tho!
Is this the kind of minor repair you had in mind?
DT is a Two stroke, isn`t? Should be easy. Rubbing is an option but not proffesional. Rebore and new piston should work for long time after repair.
What year is the bike? Model?
For DT125R (98-00) model piston kit w. rings, clips and pinion is about Ł30 +p&p. Reboring shouldn`t be much more + CDI unit Ł10-40 + seals, oils and minor parts… about 200 quid total to get it running IF nothing else is wrong with it.
Cheers.
whats the price he’s asking? as a rule of thumb id stay away from anything siezed as could be anything, he would have to strip the engine completely to know you just need to rub it down (bad idea anyway, so many problems can arise!) so if he’s done a complete strip, why would he rebuild it with a siezed piston :ermm:
“Simple” seizures due to overheating or oil shortage sort of heal up once the engine cools and a bit of oil (WD40 down the plug hole) is got in and the cause eliminated. (Add oil to tank!) O.K. they aint good, but they start and run.
The DT 125 has been around since I forget and is a good, simple workhorse engine. It takes a lot to faze one of those.
Price what your prepered to pay on the book value to suit condition less the cost of a whole “new” running engine from a breaker, less some money for your time and effort.
You might get out for £50ish but you might not and have to go the whole lump route…
Walk away if you can’t get your safe deal. There are plenty of tired but running ones out there.
Garret, get into the repairs thing if you can mate, it;ll save you an UTTER fortune in servicing and bills, BUT I AM FIRMLY WITH MR MO on this one… Don’t start out your venture into repairs with a seized engine… that’s serious problems and without the understanding nor the tools to repair it properly, its only gonna be time and money on your part for no positive end result…
Seized pistons can be fixable or skewed angles on precision machinery… not stuff an amateur can really start on and expect to either diagnose, or fix successfully.
Get into repairs though mate, seriously. So much fun taking them apart, putting them back together, finding it works still and is safe to ride, and realising it ultimately wasn’t nearly as scary as it looked at the beginning.
